Following an experimental examination of available techniques, it was established that electrolytic treatment and chemical precipitation are most adequate for the primary treatment of leachates generated in municipal solid waste landfills. It was also determined experimentally that an air stripping operation is indicated for removal of ammonia present in the leachate. The initial stages of this present work concerned the characterization of leachate in accordance with conventional sanitary parameters, together with analytically determined organics contents. In making such characterizations, use was made of the leachate emanating from the metropolitan landfill of Rio de Janeiro (Gramacho). This leachate exhibited high concentrations of dissolved salts, ammonia and organic material - typical of old established landfills. Such results are comparable with those obtained from similar landfills in other countries. The concentration of ammonia in the raw leachate was frequently at least 500 times the permissible limit. Ammonia is highly toxic towards fish and its removal is accordingly justified on these grounds alone. Furthermore, the analyses were carried out using the techniques of gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MC), which permitted the identification, previously unreported, of organic substances, originated from the biodegradation and/or decomposition of municipal solid wastes, and of the chemical products found in the landfill itself or in deposited containers. An experimental programme was, at the same time, conducted in the laboratory to evaluate the application of the electrolytic and chemical precipitation processes for the treatment of leachate. A number of diverse parameters were investigated, such as: usage of chemicals, energy consumptions, quantity and characteristics of sludge generated, and the quality of treated leachate, in terms of diverse sanitary parameters. The treated leachate was also submitted to chromatographic analysis in order to determine changes in its chemical composition during treatment. The electrolytic process was shown to be well suited to the removal of organic materials from the leachate but was not effective in the removal of ammonia. Chemical precipitation was found to be a suitable means of removal of both organics and ammonia, although it does not feature highly in terms of its cost effectiveness. A better solution, in the overall sense, is considered to be that which comprises a combination of these two processes. A series of experiments was also undertaken designed to investigate the removal of ammonia by air stripping, after the chemical precipitation stage with calcium hydroxide. During these experiments, the influence on the efficiency of removal of ammonia of parameters such as pH and temperature was determined. Removal efficiencies of the order of 90% were obtained at pH levels between 10 and 12.5, at ambient temperature. These experimental results indicate that the physico-chemical processes studied represent the optimum alternative for removal of high concentrations of ammoniacal nitrogen encountered in leachate. The removal of large quantities of N - NH3 is furthermore considered to be economically attractive when followed by biological treatment. It was also established that the quantity of ammonia, which could be removed from the Gramacho leachate, utilizing the stripping process, is such as to present economic possibilities for its recovery as ammonium sulphate.